Happy Holidays
by scriptrixlatinae
Summary: It all began so innocently, but they forgot the first rule of the Goblin Kingdom—which was to NEVER underestimate the goblins—and it couldn’t end well...or could it? A year-long, holiday-themed J/S fanfic.
1. Schedule

Author's Note: This is a story idea I've had in my head for _months_, and I'm finally starting on it. Essentially, the goblins (for reasons unknown) begin celebrating Aboveground holidays...except that, being goblins, they get them horribly, terribly wrong. Not all of these holidays will get a oneshot, nor do all the oneshots have to come from this list...but it's a good place to start. If you know of a holiday you want represented, tell me what it is and how to celebrate it (properly) so that the goblins can have fun misinterpreting it.

And yes, I already have the King's Day story written. It will come out on King's Day...also known as _tomorrow_.

Happy Holidays 2010

_JANUARY_

1st (Friday) ~ New Year's Day

6th (Wednesday) ~ King's Day

18th (Monday) ~ Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday

_FEBRUARY_

2nd (Tuesday) ~ Groundhog Day

12th (Friday) ~ Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

14th (Sunday) ~ Valentine's Day; Chinese New Year

15th (Monday) ~ George Washington's Birthday/Presidents' Day

16th (Tuesday) ~ Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday

17th (Wednesday) ~ Ash Wednesday

_MARCH_

8th (Monday) ~ Women's Day

14th (Sunday) ~ Daylight Saving Time starts

17th (Wednesday) ~ St. Patrick's Day

20th (Saturday) ~ Spring starts; Spring Equinox

28th (Sunday) ~ Palm Sunday

_APRIL_

1st (Thursday) ~ April Fool's Day

2nd (Friday) ~ Good Friday

4th (Sunday) ~ Easter Sunday

22nd (Thursday) ~ Earth Day

_MAY_

5th (Wednesday) ~ Cinco de Mayo

9th (Sunday) ~ Mothers' Day

15th (Saturday) ~ Armed Forces Day

31st (Monday) ~ Memorial Day

_JUNE_

14th (Monday) ~ Flag Day

20th (Sunday) ~ Fathers' Day

21st (Monday) ~ Summer begins; Summer Solstice

_JULY_

4th (Sunday) ~ Independence Day

14th (Wednesday) ~ Bastille Day

_AUGUST_

?

_SEPTEMBER_

6th (Monday) ~ Labor Day

12th (Sunday) ~ Grandparents' Day

22nd (Wednesday) ~ Autumn begins; Fall Equinox

_OCTOBER_

11th (Monday) ~ Columbus Day; Thanksgiving (Canada)

31st (Sunday) ~ Halloween

_NOVEMBER_

1st (Monday) ~ All Saints' Day

2nd (Tuesday) ~ Election Day (USA)

5th (Friday) ~ Guy Fawkes Day

7th (Sunday) ~ Daylight Saving Time ends

11th (Thursday) ~ Veterans' Day (USA)

25th (Thursday) ~ Thanksgiving Day (USA)

29th (Monday) ~ Advent

_DECEMBER_

21st (Tuesday) ~ Winter Solstice

25th (Saturday) ~ Christmas

26th (Sunday) ~ Kwanzaa

31st (Friday) ~ New Year's Eve


	2. Prologue

Author's Note: Mwa ha ha...foreshadowing. Also, I'm working on the next chapter of _Patience Is Not A Virtue_ (due out whenever I finish it, hopefully within the next few days), and various other surprises. Jareth's been getting antsy about my lack of recent publications, the arrogant bugger.

_PROLOGUE_

It all began so innocently...

"_Hey guys, I know you've been curious, so...I got you this!"_

...but they forgot the first rule of the Goblin Kingdom...

"_Heeeeey, looky a' this!"_

...which was to NEVER underestimate the goblins...

"_You idiotic, damned cretins! Just wait until I get my hands on you!"_

...and it couldn't end well...

"_But Jareth—they didn't mean it!"_

...or could it?


	3. King's Day

Author's Note: The first of several installments...and if you liked this, go read what else I've written. I may be writing more soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Labyrinth_ or any other published work which I may quote or reference. This work is purely for the enjoyment of myself and others, not monetary gain.

_KING'S DAY_

Wednesday, January 6th

Sarah heaved a sigh of relief and dropped onto her bed, running her fingers through her hair. The holidays were finally over and she was back at school, but she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

Toby had been happy, she consoled herself. The way his face lit up at Christmas always made her smile in reflection, even if Karen was always crotchety over being woken up early to open presents.

_And reminding her that he's only seven and still a kid does NOTHING to help her temper..._ Sarah mused, pushing herself off her bed and moving at a glacial pace to begin unpacking. _Oh well. At least he liked the Legos I got him._

Which had set off a discreet, but uncomfortably pointed, lecture about how _Legos are a choking hazard_ and _who was supposed to clean them up when Toby left them out_ and _what was she to do when Karen and Robert tripped on them and broke their necks_.

"I need a drink," she groaned, flinging the (ugly but "stylish") sweater Karen had given her on her bed.

"What a coincidence," a deep, silky voice purred from behind her—an impossibility; her roommate wouldn't be back until tomorrow, and _oh gods, how did a man get in our locked apartment?!?_

Sarah whirled and tripped over her bed in a terrified rush to back away from the intruder, not even looking at him until she was sprawled helplessly across her twin-sized bed.

"So do I."

Sarah looked up at the man standing over her, the _oh shit_ alarm bells quickly becoming _oh gods I'm FUCKING SCREWED_.

He was a tall, slender man with blond hair and mismatched eyes. He wore beautiful, expensive, and well-tailored—if somewhat eccentric—clothing, a gold medallion about his neck, and tall, slightly heeled black boots. He was beautiful, he was dangerous, and she hadn't seen him in six years...

...and he was, for some inexplicable reason, covered in—

"_Cake batter_, Miss Williams. The goblins do not bake—in fact, _no one_ in my kingdom bakes, so I will be quite interested in your explanation as to how this happened."

"M—my explanation?" she asked, slowly sitting up and scooting as far away from him as she could. Some ancient fight-or-flight instinct was telling her to move _very slowly_ around the predator in her bedroom...

"Yes," Jareth replied in his silky, dangerous voice. "You see, the goblins decided that today would be a _wonderful_ day to surprise me with cake batter—and chose to do so by covering me in it, as you can see. As I sent the lot of them to the bog for their treasonous actions, one squealed _'It's not our fault; it's not our fault; Lady Sarah said to.'_" Jareth mimicked the goblin's voice with icy precision. "So I repeat—I will be _quite_ interested in your explanation."

Sarah gaped at him for another long moment before her brain finally kicked into gear. "I have no idea what they're talking about," she said honestly. "I haven't seen any of your goblins since I ran the labyrinth, and I haven't even seen Hoggle, Sir Didymus, or Ludo since before Christmas—two weeks ago, actually. I certainly never said anything about cakes or batter or covering _you_ in it."

Jareth stared at her pensively, still looking terrifyingly angry, but she thought—just thought—that his anger might no longer be aimed at her. "So you have no idea why my goblins would currently be doing this?" he asked, still icily.

He twirled his hand and a crystal appeared in it, which he held out to her. Sarah leaned forward very carefully, not touching it, and looked into it.

Goblins, some still splattered with the noxious bog water, danced and scrabbled about in his throne room, digging through the puddles of cream-colored batter on his throne and the floor around it. One found something that looked like it was made out of brass or copper—some cheap, shiny, gold-ish metal—and jumped in Jareth's throne yelling "I King! I King!" The token clutched in his grubby hand was vaguely triangular, like Jareth's medallion.

"Cake...and a king?" Sarah asked aloud, bewildered. "Cake, king...king, cake...oh no."

Jareth glanced up at her, one wingtip eyebrow raised. "Yes?" he asked politely.

"Ah... I think I might know _what_ they're doing, but I have no idea _why_, or how they heard about it."

"Do go on," Jareth encouraged, smiling disconcertingly.

"Well, today is King's Day—the twelfth day after Christmas—and _if_ you celebrate it, which I've never really done, then you bake a cake with green, purple, and gold icing and bake a bean or a trinket into it. When you eat the cake, whoever gets the trinket in their piece becomes 'king' for the day." Sarah watched Jareth with trepidation, wondering how he would take this news.

"I...see." Jareth stared into the distance thoughtfully for a long moment before focusing unnervingly back on Sarah. "I shall have to reeducate them, then. _No one_ will be the king of my labyrinth, even if only because of some mediocre concoction of egg and flour."

And, just as suddenly as he'd appeared, he was gone.


	4. Valentine's Day

Author's Note: I meant to write a chapter for Martin Luther King Day—I even got about half of it written, but I hated how it was coming out, so I scrapped it, and then I ran out of time to write it. I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, you get to find out what happened on MLK Day, _and_ you get a bit of fluff. Exciting, no?

Disclaimer: I do not own _Labyrinth_ or any other published work which I may quote or reference. This work is purely for the enjoyment of myself and others, not monetary gain.

_VALENTINE'S DAY_

Sunday, February 14

"Hello, precious."

Jareth's voice was warm and smooth—seductive, even if it sounded a bit surprised.

Sarah—who was more than a _bit_ surprised at hearing his voice appear behind her—jumped.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, whirling to face him. She ignored how the sudden movement forced her out of her warm spot on the park bench and tried to repress a shiver.

_Damn__, but February is cold_... a part of her insisted, ignoring more important considerations. Like what a fairy tale king was doing in the real world.

"Escaping my minions," Jareth said succinctly, strutting around the bench and sliding in next to her. He draped an arm carelessly over the back of the bench, and Sarah fumed at how he didn't seem to feel the cold.

_Barely above freezing, and the man still wears his shirt open to the waist_, she grumbled privately, trying not to enjoy the sight _quite_ so obviously.

"Actually," Jareth continued, "I took the afternoon off. After all the mischief that the goblins got into last month, I thought I deserved it—and it's far easier to escape when they all feel too cowed to cause more mayhem."

"Is this about the cake batter?" Sarah asked cautiously. "Because I really didn't—"

"No, no, this is about the revolt that the goblins attempted to stage on the chickens' behalf," Jareth yawned, stretching almost catlike in his seat. "They're still smarting from that, by the way." His expression darkened as he remembered that particular episode.

* * *

_The goblins had waddled into his throne room in a group, bold as brass and all clutching their black chickens possessively._

"_We gots a problem, king," one of them grunted._

_Jareth, who had been hearing increasingly asinine cases all day, motioned for him to continue._

"_Our chickens ain't bein' treated right. They can't do nothin', and everybody treats 'em like they're just animals!" the goblin blustered._

_In his many, _many_ years of ruling, Jareth had heard even more ridiculous claims—although he was hard pressed to think of one at the moment._

"_They _are_ just animals," he explained patiently. "They cannot speak, they cannot think—all they do is rely on instincts to survive."_

"_That don't mean nothin'!" a smaller goblin squealed._

_Jareth turned his head to see his subject visibly shaking—probably in terror at having publically contradicted his king._

"_I happen to know, Sniggle, that you eat chicken eggs daily. If they deserve equal rights, should that not include the right for their children _not_ to be eaten?"_

_Sniggle gaped as he tried to find an answer. One of the other goblins beat him to it, however. "The king says they deserve equal rights!"_

_Jareth straightened in his seat slowly before ominously rising from the throne. "As I am the only king within the Goblin Kingdom and I do _not_ believe such idiocy, I can only assume that you are referring to someone else. WHO IS HE?"_

"_King good man!" the first goblin insisted. "We obey him now! He respect chickens! Not like you!"_

_The goblins behind him took a subtle, but noticeable, step backwards._

"_That doesn't answer my question," Jareth said silkily. "If you don't tell me who he is, I shall simply have to punish all of you instead." Almost twice their height, Jareth _loomed_ over the miniscule goblins._

"_Martin Luther!" one of the younger goblins squealed. "He's Martin Luther! Please don't hurt me!"_

_The king paused, tilting his head slightly at the name. "Martin Luther?" he drawled lazily. "What sort of name is that? I've never heard of him, in any case...which means that I still get to punish _you_ for plotting against me."_

_The goblins fled._

* * *

"What did you do to them?"

Sarah's question—sounding slightly horrified—recalled Jareth to the present.

"I was going to punish this 'king' person they were rallying around, but they said he was named Martin Luther and there's no one with that name in the Labyrinth, so I punished the goblins instead." Jareth paused thoughtfully. "It was probably better that way. Goblins are quite stupid, and they never learn unless you punish them quickly and harshly for something. They're rather like small children in that regard."

"And how did you punish them?" Sarah prompted. She knew she should be reacting more to his sudden appearance—should be demanding that he leave, perhaps—but then, he wasn't threatening her, wasn't stealing her family, was really only sitting down and talking to her.

Besides, how else would she hear about something as strange and completely nonsensical as a civil rights movement for _chickens?_

"I ordered them to kill all the mosquitoes in the Bog of Eternal Stench," Jareth replied easily. "They always breed there in spring before infesting the rest of the Labyrinth, but the job is unpleasant, difficult, and tedious enough to make _any_ goblin rethink another revolution." He smirked in self satisfaction at his clever solution.

Sarah shifted and pulled her arms closer around her against the cold. "So they were trying to make this Martin Luther person king?" she asked, just before the light dawned. "Wait—Martin Luther _King?_ Your goblins were trying to crown a civil rights leader from the sixties?"

Jareth turned to look at her slowly, his expression surprised and slightly irritated. "This person actually exists?" he asked scathingly.

"Yes," Sarah affirmed. "He died forty years ago, though. He was a Baptist preacher and did a lot of work to get African Americans equal rights compared to the whites—they were discriminated against horribly back then, but not anymore. He's very famous," she finished, only then remembering that this was the man whom Jareth's goblins had meant to install as king in his place.

"And he's been dead for forty years..." Jareth mused. He threw his head back suddenly and laughed expansively.

Sarah, watching him, had to laugh herself. It was—_strange_—seeing him like this, but his laughter was infectious, and so she laughed along at the goblins' inanity.

"Come on!" he said, suddenly throwing himself off the bench and pulling her along. He ignored her shrieked protests—she was only surprised, after all—and said, "I haven't laughed like that in years. I believe I owe you a dance, for that."

"Wait—Jareth, wait! Don't you think you should find out why they're celebrating our holidays? I mean, holidays from here—from my world?" Sarah babbled, thrown off-kilter by Jareth's spontaneity. "King's Day—and Martin Luther King Day was almost a month ago; didn't you say that was when they got in trouble?"

"Yes, but they're always doing silly things," Jareth laughed. "Two weeks ago, I caught them messing about with a groundhog and arguing about whether it was spring or not. I just took the animal away and sent them back to the bog to finish catching the mosquitoes."

"But that's another holiday!" Sarah wailed as Jareth spun her. "That's Groundhog Day!"

"You have a day to celebrate groundhogs?" Jareth teased, enjoying their dance too much to pay close attention to her protests. "What else? Rabbits? Chickens? Perhaps a strange rabbit crossbreed that lays eggs?"

"No! Well, Easter, but—"

Jareth laughed again and swept her up in his arms to twirl them until he was dizzy, snow crunching softly under his feet. "Oh, you precious thing, do you know how silly you are? You'd fit right in, you know. I should have kept you all those years ago and sent your brother home. He wouldn't have been nearly as much fun."

"Jareth, you ass!" Sarah shrieked, making him wince. He had very acute hearing, and she _was_ close to his ear. "They're just holidays; _I_ didn't make them! And put me down—you're the one who's being silly."

Still chuckling to himself, he carried her over to the bench and sat her on his lap, wrapping her in his arms so she couldn't leave. "All right, then, precious," he soothed, holding her until she stopped pushing against him and settled into sulking. "Tell me about today, then. Isn't it a holiday? I thought I'd come to see your celebrations, since I was taking the afternoon off anyway."

Sarah, suddenly realizing exactly _which_ holiday it was, blushed scarlet. "Um...it's really not a very good holiday—I mean, there aren't any public celebrations for it, like for Easter or Groundhog Day or Independence Day..."

Jareth's wide smile simply grew as he watched Sarah trip over her words, face blushing like a tomato. He still didn't know what the holiday was about, but he was sure that it was interesting. "Sarah..." he teased. "What is today celebrating?"

"Nothing..." she tried to say, blushing and looking away from him.

"Nothing? Nothing, tra la la?" he insisted, catching her chin and forcing her to look at him.

It hadn't escaped his notice that, although she was blushing and clearly uncomfortable, she wasn't trying to escape _him_.

"It's Valentine's Day, okay?" she snapped. "So all the happy couples are out at parties and expensive dinners and giving each other presents and snogging and—mmf!"

Jareth cut her off with his own bit of snogging, deciding it would be worth her arguments later. After holding the kiss for a long moment—and exploring her delicious little mouth _quite_ thoroughly—Jareth let her pull back. "There. Now was that so painful?" he asked. "I just wanted you to tell me what all the celebrations were about."

"You didn't have to sexually harass me!" she snapped breathlessly.

Jareth shrugged lazily, not even bothering to hide that he was grinning like the proverbial canary-eating cat. "That, my dear, was not sexual harassment. That was simply to stop your increasingly _passionate_ rambling before you became too angry to talk to." His smirk grew even wider. "If you are ever curious about what _real_ sexual harassment is like, though, I'd be happy to show you."

Sarah glared frostily at him. "Actually, today isn't _only_ Valentine's Day. It's also the Chinese New Year," she huffed.

"Oh?" Jareth asked, grinning congenially again. "How do you celebrate that?"

Sarah paused. "I don't know, actually, but I think you get together with family and have a large meal. And maybe fireworks. I'd have to ask my friend Amethyst. Her family is Chinese."

Jareth reclined comfortably on the bench. "If today is her family's new year, then wouldn't she be celebrating? We should join her." He grinned slyly.

Sarah frowned. "I'm sure she's busy with her family, and they might not want strangers barging in on their party."

"But you aren't a stranger—didn't you just say that you're her friend?" Jareth purred persuasively. "And you did say that there were no Valentine's celebrations...unless you'd like to go out to dinner with me."

"I'll call her," Sarah said shortly.


	5. Chinese New Year

Author's Note: So...this is late. (So is the Mardi Gras one, which I still intend to write, by the way.) I'm sorry about that, but three holidays hit in as many days, and there's only so much I can do...especially while taking 18 hours this semester. (Yes, I'm that crazy. Shut up.) I'm sorry, but hopefully the amusement of it will entertain you enough to overlook the lateness of its publication? I hope?

In any case, the OC Amethyst does NOT belong to me; she is her own person in real life (and yes, I have known her as long as it says in the story). I don't approve of writing your friends into your stories in the vast majority of cases, but she a) was my source for how to celebrate this holiday b) unwittingly inspired the idea/plotline/events for this chapter as I was talking to her c) asked to be put in. Choice C is also a really crappy reason, but then, I'm a bit arrogant about the writing quality. (This chapter is also not my best work, and the end in particular is bad. It's too abrupt.) But that's enough from me—you can ask if you want to know more—so enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Labyrinth_ or any other published work which I may quote or reference. This work is purely for the enjoyment of myself and others, not monetary gain.

_CHINESE NEW YEAR_

Sunday, February 14

"You have a boyfriend?!?" Amethyst squealed into the phone.

Sarah winced. Amethyst forgot all too often how shrill her voice became when she was excited—which was any time she thought there was a chance of juicy gossip.

"Is he cute? What's he like? How'd you meet? Tell me!"

"He is _not_ my boyfriend, Ame," Sarah said sternly.

"Aaaaaaw..." Amethyst whined, then suddenly recovering. "So can I have him?!?"

Sarah spluttered. "No!"

"Why not? Are you jealous?"

Sarah was uncomfortably aware of how aware _Jareth_ was of her discomfort, which just made her more uncomfortable.

_Damn. I knew this would happen._

"No, Amethyst, but it wouldn't work. Trust me."

"What wouldn't work?" Jareth purred from behind her. Sarah had turned around, trying to hide her increasing fluster, and it hadn't worked.

Sarah jumped. "Don't _do_ that!" she hissed at him, covering the mouthpiece of her cellphone. "And stop eavesdropping on our conversation! It's rude."

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "You said you would ask if we could join your friend's family in their celebrations," he pointed out. "_We._ I believe that I have an equal share in this conversation."

Sarah was about to reeducate him about his conversational rights when Amethyst squealed in her opposite ear, "Ooh! Was that him? He has a _sexy_ voice—is he British? What's his accent?"

Even though Jareth was behind her—and now holding her against him possessively, his arms tight around her waist—Sarah _knew_ he was smirking. He could radiate smirking-ness to anywhere within a one mile radius, she suspected. "Would you please drop it? His ego _really_ doesn't need the help."

She felt Jareth smirk even more behind her and elbowed him quickly before he could say anything. "So—can we come over or not? And how _do_ you celebrate Chinese New Year, since that was what he was originally curious about."

Amethyst—_thank god she's so easily distracted_, Sarah thought—happily answered. "Of course you can come! And usually you get together with your family—all of it: aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, everybody—and have a huge meal—well, you clean the house first and cook everything ahead of time, since you're not supposed to cook on New Year's itself—and all the parents and grandparents and so forth give red envelopes to the kids with money in them. They're called _Hóng Bāo_. Oh! And you're supposed to wear all new clothes, preferably in red 'cause it's a lucky color."

"So cleaning, cooking, family reunion, feasting, new clothes, and gifts. It sounds a lot like Christmas," Sarah observed, interested despite herself—and despite Jareth breathing down her neck.

"It kind of is!" Amethyst cheerfully agreed. "It's our big celebration for the year, and a time to be with family and all. You should come!"

"I agree, precious," Jareth purred in her other ear.

Sarah tried ineffectively to jerk away from him, asking her friend, "Are you sure your parents won't mind? I mean, it _is_ a time for you to be with them."

"No, it's cool! Mom was asking how you were anyway! Why don't you come over for soon—around five? We can hang out a little bit before dinner! I've missed you, girl."

Sarah's expression twitched once, a sign of her frustration at not being able to thwart Jareth's manipulations. "Okay," she replied heavily. "We'll see you then."

* * *

"You could always let me help you," Jareth suggested innocently.

"We've already discussed this. _NO._"

Sarah was in a dressing room at the mall, trying on yet _another_ new red outfit. Jareth had insisted that, since they were going to celebrate with her friend's family, they needed to act the part.

Which meant shopping...which Sarah detested.

Jareth had _ever_ so kindly offered to magically change her clothes for her, as he had changed his own clothes, hence his (recurring) comment. Sarah, to his (equally recurring) disappointment, was justifiably distrustful of this offer, particularly in light of _his_ new outfit.

She wasn't sure whether he'd chosen it in reaction to her friend's interest or to encourage her own, but he was now vertically sprawled against the wall outside the dressing rooms in his usual tight pants and open-necked shirt. These particular pants, however, were so dark red as to be nearly black and textured oddly. They reminded Sarah oddly of almost-dried blood, and she tried to comfort herself with the thought that on anyone except him, they would look ridiculous.

It was that one exception that was giving her the trouble.

The shirt was a vivid, scarlet silk, and open almost to his waist. With his pendant centered on his chest and wild, now red-tinted hair, Sarah conceded that he looked dashing, if rather like a strange, rock star peacock.

_Damn him for making it work_, she grumbled to herself, examining herself in the dressing room tri-mirror. She'd found red capris and white peasant blouse with red stitching, but it simply didn't work. She was slender, but tight pants were not nearly as flattering on her as they were on her date, and the blouse was too baggy.

"I said it wouldn't suit you."

Sarah snorted and turned to glare at Jareth. Since she couldn't quarrel with his judgment, having just decided the same herself, she challenged him on something else. "You're not supposed to be in here, Jareth," she snapped.

"Oh, I'm not?" he asked, credulous. "I'm terribly sorry."

Sarah noticed—after he had, she was sure—the heads of curious young women looking around the doors of their dressing stalls with fascinated looks.

Jareth smiled as though he knew she'd noticed their audience. "I just wanted to bring you something," he purred innocently—performing now, she knew. "I thought it would look lovely for tonight."

He could have been an angel with a crooked halo with his smile as he brought out his pick, and Sarah heard a quiet outbreak of giggles and murmurs of awed approval.

It was a dress in a beautiful silky scarlet that Sarah realized would exactly match his shirt. The top of the bodice was heart-shaped, curved to support her breasts and with medium wide straps spaced far apart on her shoulders. It had a high waist and a flowing skirt, though it would fall just above her knees.

"I found it by the windows, hidden behind the T-shirts," he announced, raising his voice slightly for the benefit of his admiring audience.

Sarah knew that was a complete fabrication; she had looked in that corner and seen nothing but more shirts—certainly nothing as elaborate and attention-seeking as this dress. It looked like something that should be advertised on a mannequin in the middle of the aisle, not hidden in a back corner.

"How clever of you for looking there," Sarah replied with slight irony.

Jareth simply smiled charmingly as a few of the girls excused themselves—Sarah would have bet that they were going to inspect that corner themselves. She caught the dress by its hanger and disappeared back into her own dressing stall, hearing Jareth settle himself to lean by the door.

"Are you going to just _stand_ there?" Sarah asked testily, clothes rustling as she pulled off the peasant blouse.

"Why? Would you prefer that I come in and help you?" Jareth sounded mischievous and slightly hopeful.

"Hardly," she scorned. "But you're still not supposed to be in here."

"I'm happy to leave if someone objects," he announced airily. "Though I believe that you're the only one doing so, and I _would_ like to see how you look in that dress."

"So basically, you're not going to leave until I show you." Sarah's voice was muffled as she pulled the dress over her head. Jareth's soft chuckle floated through the flimsy divider as she wrestled the hidden zipper up her back.

A moment later, Sarah opened the door and stepped out. Jareth gestured expansively toward the tri-mirror and padded along behind her as she stepped in front of it. "I knew it would suit you," he gloated as Sarah smoothed it over her stomach.

"That doesn't mean I'll get it," Sarah huffed. "I haven't looked at the price yet."

Jareth smirked and dipped a finger into the back of her dress, tugging up the tag. "Is twenty dollars reasonable enough? I believe you were prepared to spend twice that on the other outfit," he observed smugly.

Sarah scowled, but had to admit that she was only resisting the dress because _he_ had picked it out—and had almost certainly spirited it into existence for his viewing pleasure. The dress fit her beautifully, and it was less revealing than she would have expected from him.

_Probably so that I wouldn't balk at wearing it_, she thought cynically, but conceded defeat. It was almost four, and they were supposed to meet Amethyst in an hour.

"Oh hush," she chided waspishly, escaping his clutches again to change back into her own clothes.

Jareth chuckled smugly to himself.

* * *

"Eee! You dressed up! And you're so _pretty!_ Where'd you find it? Is it new?"

"Thank you, Jareth saw it, and yes. He insisted we 'respect your celebrations' and find new clothes," Sarah informed Amethyst, who had just spotted said male strolling lazily up the path to her front door.

"He—ooh..." Amethyst giggled and pulled off a complicated eyebrow waggle which Sarah chose to ignore. "And you're not dating?"

"Not yet, at least," Jareth drawled arrogantly. "Sarah won't let me. Miss Amethyst, I presume?" he confided with a wink.

Amethyst giggled and placed her hand in the one he offered, blushing as he bent to kiss it politely.

Sarah felt distinctly irritated as the two spoke past her as though she weren't there. Thankfully Amethyst's mother appeared in the hall behind her daughter and called them all inside.

"How are you? How is your mother?" she asked Sarah in a mild Chinese accent.

"I've been doing well," Sarah replied in relief, ignoring the man behind her and smiling gratefully at her friend's mother. "Karen's doing well. Toby keeps her busy—he's taken up soccer, and she helps out with the team a lot."

"You get along with her now?" Jareth asked, sounding surprised. "That's not what I remember."

"That was five years ago, Jareth. We've changed since then."

"You knew Sarah while she was in high school?" Mrs. Liu asked with interest.

"Briefly." Jareth smirked dangerously, trying to sneak his hands back to Sarah's hips, but she slipped away from him and into the living room. "We've just rediscovered each other." He was watching Sarah from the corner of his eye as she wandered farther away from him, Amethyst following her.

* * *

"So how'd you meet him?!?" Amethyst quizzed her friend.

"Do you remember years ago, when Toby was a baby, and Dad and Karen kept making me babysit him when they went out?" Sarah began.

Amethyst, who had been friends with her since middle school, nodded immediately.

"I was angry about it one day, and he heard me. I hadn't meant him to, but he did, and he stuck his nose in the matter. He's terribly arrogant," Sarah asserted, "and he dressed like that even back then. You wouldn't _believe_ how flamboyant he can be."

"He's gay?" Amethyst wailed. Sarah felt she sounded far too distressed about that possibility for the short time she'd known him.

"I don't really know, but his clothes do make me wonder," she waffled before distracting her friend again, trying to edge her away from more sensitive subjects. "Do you need any help getting ready for supper? What are we eating?"

Amethyst had just begun to explain their meal, lifting lids from their containers to let her inspect their contents, when Jareth sidled into the kitchen. "There you are," he accused them. "You disappeared."

"You were getting pretentious, and I wanted to talk to my friend."

"Any conclusions?" he asked smugly, smirking slightly.

"She wants to know if you're gay," Sarah informed him with a straight face.

Jareth raised a confused eyebrow. "Remind me why you're friends with someone so obviously delusional?"

"Well, you didn't give me much choice," Sarah began airily.

Amethyst muffled a giggle. "And you do wear such strange clothes. Usually only gay guys dress so well! Or in something so tight. And revealing."

Sarah grinned cheerfully at him, perfectly content to let her friend abuse him.

"So you believe that I cannot be straight because none of the straight men you know are capable of dressing themselves?"

"Stereotypes exist because they have a bit of truth in them," Sarah continued airily, trying not to laugh. Amethyst was about to lose the battle.

"And yet they are often wrong," Jareth warned.

"Just like the one about women being weak-willed and giving into any guy that shows an interest in her?" Sarah suggested brightly.

Jareth looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled as though gratified by her connection. "Touché. Then shall I help you ladies prepare our meal?"

"It's already made!" Amethyst chirped. "It's tradition. But you can help set the table. Plates are in the cabinet by the fridge—we need six."

* * *

"Happy now that you've seen a Chinese New Year's celebration?" Sarah asked a few hours later as she drove them back to the park to drop Jareth off and let him return to the Underground.

"We do still have time for—" Jareth cut his own statement off with a vicious bout of swearing.

Sarah waited patiently for him to explain.

"Damn goblins and _fireworks!_" Jareth finished, and then disappeared in a storm of glitter.


End file.
